New Mardi Gras parade rules passed easily Thursday (Jan. 23) through the New Orleans City Council, which approved them unanimously.

The new rules, briefly stated, are as follows:

Throwbacks, tossing throws back at the maskers, now carry a fine of $250.

Private portable toilets are banned on public property, including the neutral ground. Companies that place toilets on public property will be subject to a $250 fine.

Parking on both sides of St. Charles and Napoleon avenues is prohibited starting two hours before the parade.

Ladders, tents, grills and other "personal effects," must be at least 6 feet back from the curb. Ladders cannot be chained together.

Roping off private areas with ropes, tarps, chairs or anything else is banned.

The sale of "Snap and pop" type firecrackers is banned.

Councilwomen LaToya Cantrell and Jackie Clarkson, who cosponsored the ordinances, said that they are the result of nine months of work meeting with neighborhood residents, parading krewes, police and fire officials and the mayor's office.

Most of the rules tighten pre-existing restrictions and enjoyed wide support from many in the community. Several other, potentially more controversial, regulations, including a ban on throwing toilet paper off of floats, have been shelved for the time being.

During a previous committee meeting on the subject, Clarkson said that she was considering putting a limit on the size and weight of throws. She said that she once took a bag of beads to the face that was heavy enough to cut her, and she's heard similar stories from constituents.

A limit on the number of parading krewes and floats is also being considered. Clarkson said that parades have continued as late as 1 a.m. before, putting a strain on the Police Department, which lacks the manpower to adequately staff the parade routes for so long.

A potential ban on tossing toilet paper would be particularly vexing to members of Krewe of Tucks, which uses branded rolls as an emblem throw. Cantrell took that measure off the table for this year, because krewe members have already invested in their throws for the parade.

However, she reiterated in an interview that some kind of toilet paper regulation is still possible. "It's a sanitation issue," she said. "It was the Sanitation Department that brought this to us."

Robert Reichert, a Tucks member, who spoke at today's meeting cautioned the City Council to tread lightly when it comes to prohibiting throws. Without emblem throws, a krewe loses its identity, he said. "You may as well be in the Macy's Day parade, just waving to people."

Cantrell said that she hopes organize a sit down with Tucks and the Sanitation Department to find a compromise. She said that a ban on only unfurled toilet paper -- packed rolls would be allowed -- is acceptable to the krewe.

The new regulations didn't go through entirely unopposed.

Edward Deshotel spoke in defense of private portable toilets.

"We want to keep private Porta Potties ... We want a clean place to use the bathroom," he said. "We don't want to do the old school way of having a pee bucket in the van."

He questioned why the city should be allowed to place portable toilets in the neutral ground and not private citizens.

Joseph Mistrot, who did not attend the council meeting but expressed his displeasure in an email, was particularly frustrated with the new parking bans. A Napoleon Avenue resident, he said the rules are misguided. He disputed Cantrell's assertion that parking on the non-parade side of the neutral ground obstructs first responders.

"There has never been a problem parking on the opposite side of the street for the parades. Traffic is blocked off on my block anyway except for school buses carrying marching bands," he said. "I've lived on the route for 10 years, this has never been an issue. Most of us on Napoleon between Laurel and Tchoup do not have driveways so this is a major pain in the butt for us if we cannot park in front of our homes."

"We aren't in this to make anybody's life harder," Cantrell said, "But this is about safety."

As with any rule, the success or failure of the new regulations will depend on enforcement. Ladders have always been required to be at least as far from the curb as they are tall, for example, but, as anyone who has run into a ladder wall before can tell you, enforcement on that rule has been lax to say the least.

By making the distance requirement uniform, the hope is that the rule will be easier to enforce, according to Cantrell.

Ultimately, though, both Cantrell and Clarkson acknowledged that police can only do so much. The best enforcement will be individuals choosing to follow the rules, Clarkson said.

*Note: This ordinance does not include language related to roping off territory. That language was added as an amendment. The full text of the amendment was as follows: "It shall be prohibited to use ropes or other similar items to create a barricade or otherwise obstruct passage along public property, unless otherwise specifically authorized."

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/7740393/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;What do you think of the new Mardi Gras rules approved by the City Council?&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;